Congratulations to Iain Taylor who headed home a field of 191 runners at Saturday’s Edinburgh parkrun 5k clocking a winning time of 17.00. Colin Reid in 20th position (18.42) was the next Carnegie runner to finish with Frazer Munro posting a fast 18.46 in 22nd place. Mark Western enjoyed a strong run setting a personal best of 20.32 (53rd) and Tim Walker made his parkrun debut covering the fast 3.1 mile course in 20.42 (59th). Kirsty Baird placed 61st in 20.50 and well done to Mary Western who ran a personal best of 21.19 finishing 70th overall.

Wednesday 19th May  - Self Transcendence 2 Mile Road Race, Meadows, Edinburgh Ross Carrie set a personal best of 11.46 whilst finishing 16th overall at last Wednesday’s Self Transcendence 2 Mile Race in Edinburgh

Friday 21st May - Beveridge Park 5K Road Race, Kirkcaldy Judy Turner set a personal best of 19.10 at the Beveridge Park 5k hwere she placed 4th lady and 18th overall.  Tim Walker finished 35th in 21.47 and Melanie Sinclair covered the undulating 3.1 mile course in 22.39 placing 13th lady.

Saturday 22nd May - Edinburgh parkrun 5K, Cramond   Lesley Halstead placed 100th at the Edinburgh parkrun 5k in 24.26 and Robbie Swinton set a personal best of 28.28 in 153rd position.

Saturday 22nd May - Cape Wrath Marathon Richie Cunningham placed a superb 2nd overall at the Cape Wrath Marathon in 3.08.17. Fabienne Thompson was 4th lady and 1st F40 in 3.46.00 and Neil Campbell clocked 4.26.27.

Sunday 23rd May – Edinburgh Marathon Bradley is the leading Scot at the Edinburgh Marathon
Carnegie’s Scott Bradley produced another outstanding marathon performance finishing 6th overall and leading Scottish athlete at the Edinburgh Marathon. Despite the scorching temperatures, Bradley recorded a personal best of 2.35.14 as he reached the finish at Musselburgh Race Course.  There were 9459 finishers in the marathon with several thousand runners also taking part in the associated Scottish Half Marathon and Hairy Haggis Marathon Relay. Twenty three Carnegie members took part in the marathon.  Iain Taylor was the 2nd Harrier home covering his 26.2 miles in 2.53.59 placing 43rd overall. Stevie Ogg clocked 3.02.59 (135th) and on his marathon debut Ian Johnston enjoyed an excellent run finishing 176th and 8th M50 in 3.05.55. Gail Murdoch was the leading Carnegie lady finishing in 3.14.36 followed by marathon debutant Kristin Lownie who ran a very strong race timing at 3.18.44. Grant Reekie put in a strong performance finishing 448th in 3.20.45, David MacLean timed at 3.23.11 (529th) and Derek Cassells was 640th in 3.26.25. Tom Spry placed 6th in the M60 category in a time of 3.35.05, John Fulham clocked 3.42.15 (1392nd), Mick Cowie was 2078th in 3.53.22 and Kieran Morgan was 2328th in 3.56.12. Well done to Morna Fleming who broke the four hour barrier for the 1st time in 3.57.18 and to Annette Bunyan who ran a great race finishing in 4.02.10. Allan Davie completed the marathon in 4.07.29, Gillian McCracken in 4.14.09, Derek Carswell in 4.22.52, Robert Milton in 4.26.26, Colin Reynolds in 4.31.28, Gordon Rae in 4.37.07, Julie Humphreys in 5.02.28 and Mehrnaz Campbell in 5.45.51.

Sunday 23rd May – Scottish Half Marathon, Edinburgh Jo Wilson ran a personal best of 1.36.07 in the Scottish Half Marathon while Allan Brannigan clocked 1.45.19 and Clive Cable completed the 13.1 miler in 1.52.44.

Sunday 23rd May – UK Canix Championship, Cheltenham Colin Reid and his border terrier ‘Mitch’ ran in the UK CaniX Championship at Cheltenham on Sunday which was the final event of the season.  They managed to finish an excellent 3rd in the UK Championship for the 40-49 age group and finished 3rd in Sunday’s race which was shortened to a 3K due to high temps in a time of 11.57.

Carnegie Harriers were represented by three teams in the Highland Fling Relay Race with our Carnegie Cougars (Jo Wilson, Isobel Burnett, Lesley Landels and Morna Fleming) finishing 3rd ladies team in 9.15.17. The Carnegie Wrinklies (John McArthur, Ken Daniels, Bill Duff and John Milton) were 23rd overall in 9.39.92 and Carnegie Ladies in 4 fun (Gillian McCracken, Louise Hewison, Fiona Rennie and Val Macaulay) were 7th ladies team in 10.19.01.

Saturday 24th April – Edinburgh parkrun 5K, Cramond At Saturday’s Edinburgh parkrun 5k, three Harriers took part with Ian Stewart placing 4th and 1st M50 in 17.01. Ross Carrie was 28th in 19.35 and Paul Arnott was 60th in 22.05.

Saturday 24th April – Isle of Mull Fell Race   Alison West tackled the Isle of Mull Fell Race on Saturday, placing 3rd lady, covering the 8 mile course with 5000ft of climbing in 2.56.34.

Sunday 25th April – Virgin London Marathon Impressive PB for Scott Bradley at the London Marathon
Congratulations to Carnegie’s Scott Bradley who finished the London Marathon in a personal best time of 2.35.16 placing 102nd overall. This tremendous run moves Scott to 5th in the Carnegie all-time marathon rankings having lowered his previous best (2.36.55) by almost two minutes. Campbell Hutt on his marathon debut was rewarded with a superb time of 3.03.11 (1305th) while Bernt Cederstrom clocked 3.40.59 finishing 6290th in the field of 36,000 runners.  Kirsty Baird enjoyed an excellent marathon debut covering her 26.2 miles around London in 3.43.01, Susan Cederstrom timed at 3.51.36 and Paul Hutton finished in 4.02.30. Colin Reynolds clocked a time of 4.17.43 and David Harper reached the finish in The Mall in 4.34.59.

Sunday 25th April – Edinburgh parkrun 10K, Cramond Tommy Lawrence in his first race since returning from injury finished 3rd at the Edinburgh parkrun 10K in 34.36. Malcolm Smith ran a 10k best of 42.39 placing 17th, Ross Carrie clocked 44.09 (24th) and Paul Arnott was 43rd in 47.22.

Carnegie Harriers Edinburgh Park Run

Saturday 10th April - Edinburgh parkrun 5K, Cramond

Harriers set fast times at the Edinburgh parkrun
There was an excellent turnout of almost 40 club members at Saturday’s Edinburgh parkrun which saw a field of 204 runners enjoy almost perfect conditions for the 5k run. The event incorporated the 3rd counter in Carnegie’s Road Running Grand Prix with many Harriers recording personal bests.  2009 West Highland Way race winner Scott Bradley was the leading Carnegie athlete placing 2nd overall in an excellent personal best of 15.53. Allan Fotheringham was the next Harrier home covering the fast, out and back course in 16.34 finishing 3rd overall and 1st M40. Roger Clark in 4th position was hot on his heels clocking a time of 16.38 with Iain Taylor recording a parkrun best of 16.42 crossing the line in 5th position.  Alex Keenan on his return from injury ran a parkrun PB of 17.09 (6th), Campbell Hutt recorded a new best of 17.10 (7th) and Andrew Smith clocked 17.21 placing 8th. Well done to Steven King who ran a 5k PB of 17.38 (13th) and to leading M50 Ian Johnston who timed at 17.56 finishing 17th.  There were strong runs from Alan Cockburn (24th in 18.33), Ross Carrie (30th in 18.52) and John Fulham (31st in 18.53) while Gail Murdoch ran a personal best of 19.29 finishing 3rd lady overall. Darran Neilson set a 5k PB of 19.38 (42nd), Jon Farrimond made his Carnegie debut timing at 19.49 (46th) and Kieran Morgan in his last race in his 40′s set a PB of 19.50 (47th). Malcolm Smith and David Greig set PB’s of 19.52 and 19.53 respectively while Isobel Burnett was the elading F50 clocking a fine time of 20.01. Pamela Gilfillan on her parkrun debut ran a PB of 20.57, Dru Baker clocked 21.30 and there were PB’s for Susan Cederstrom (21.42) and Morna Fleming (21.53 and leading F55). Richie Cunningham despite run the entire West Highland Way twice this week still managed his first parkrun in 23.02, Lesley Landels made her club debut in 23.15, Louise Hewison clocked 23.24 and Bill Fairley timed at 25.19.  Carnegie Harriers represented nearly 20% of the Edinburgh parkrun field and very well done to everyone who took part. Coffee and cakes were thoroughly enjoyed after the run in Cramond car park. The Grand Prix has now been updated will all the results after Event No.3.   A selection of photo’s from the parkrun can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnfulham/sets/72157623824619186/

Sunday 11th April – Heaven and Hell Half Marathon, Scone

Congratulations to Gail Murdoch, Fabienne Thompson and Helena Sim who won the ladies team prize at Sunday’s Heaven & Hell Half Marathon from Scone near Perth.  Gail was the leading Carnegie athlete covering the challenging 13.1 miler in 1.36.54 finsihing 5th lady overall.  Fabienne placed 8th lady in 1.40.53 and Helena was 11th lady in 1.42.24.  Alison West clocked 1.53.54 and Derek Carswell timed at 2.03.46.

Sunday 11th April – Titanic Quarter 10K Road Race, Belfast

Ian Johnston was amongst overall 1000 runners taking part in the Titanic Quarter 10K Road Race in Belfast on Sunday afternoon where he finished 55th in 38.24.

Saturday 6th March – Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon Gail and Sue race from Glasgow to Edinburgh

Carnegie’s Gail Murdoch and Sue Walker completed the Glasgow – Edinburgh Double Marathon on Saturday. The gruelling event started in Ruchill Park, Glasgow and followed a course along the Forth & Clyde and Union canals before leading the competitors to the finish some 56 miles later at Edinburgh Quay.  Gail finished an impressive 4th lady overall in 7.58.46 and Sue reached the finish very strongly in 11.03.00.

Saturday 6th March - Edinburgh parkrun 5K, Cramond   Fast times recorded at the 20th Edinburgh parkrun

The Edinburgh parkrun launched 20 weeks ago and has already established itself as one of the most popular events for our club members. Saturday’s run was no exception with eleven Harriers making the short trip across the Forth to take part.  Ian Stewart contesting his 2nd parkrun was rewarded with 3rd place (1st M50) in a fast time of 16.38. Calum McGaw made his debut run clocking an excellent 17.14 placing 7th overall and Ian Johnston on his 5th visit clocked 18.11 finishing 17th. Fourteen year old Fergus McGaw covered the fast and flat 5k course in 18.56 placing 22nd.  Ross Carrie ran a new parkrun PB of 19.50 (46th) while Kieran Morgan set a personal best of 19.52 in 48th position. David Greig made the best use of the ideal running conditions recording a PB of 20.14 (54th) and Stephen Greer timed at 20.43 in 61st place.  Phil Smithard took part in his first parkrun finishing 68th and leading M60 in 21.25, John Milton was 116th in 24.24 and Tom Maley in his 5th parkrun was 182nd in 29.46. There were 205 finishers.

Sunday 7th March – Bishop Hill Race   Hill Running Grand Prix get underway at Scotlandwell

The annual Bishop Hill Race took place on Sunday afternoon with the sixty seven runners facing slushy snow on the upper slopes of the 2.5 mile race which has 1000 feet of climbing. As always there was a good Carnegie representation at this event with fourteen Harriers taking part. Sandy Bennet led the way for Carnegie placing 5th overall in 21.45, followed seven seconds later by 6th placed Peter Simpson who won the M50 award in 21.52. Richie Cunningham secured 10th place in 23.30 to ensure 2nd team spot for Carnegie with 21 points. Steven King finished 16th in 23.47, Derek Cassells was 18th in 24.35 while Stephen Greer enjoyed a fine run placing 32nd in 27.30. London Marathon bound Colin Reynolds covered the steep ascent and descent in 28.08 (35th), Neil Campbell was 36th in 28.11, Paul Hutton was 39th in 28.41 and Chris Davidson posted a time of 28.46 finishing 42nd. Regular hill runner Allan Macaulay placed 47th in 29.16, Kieran Morgan was 49th in 29.48, Phil Smithard was 66th in 38.55 while Bill Fairley made his Carnegie debut placing 67th in 43.42. The Grand Prix table has been updated and the 2nd event will take place on Saturday 20th March at the Chapelgill Hill Race.

Sunday 7th March -Arbroath Smokies 10 Mile Road Race   Team success at the Arbroath Smokies Ten Miler

Eleven Carnegie ladies were amongst a field of over 300 runners at the popular Arbroath Smokies Ten Mile Road Race on Sunday morning. Judy Turner was in fine form placing 5th overall in 1.08.19 and followed home by Isobel Burnett (8th in 1.10.14) and Pauline Walker (10th in 1.01.51) ensured team success for our ladies.  Annette Bunyan who is training for the Edinburgh Marathon in May had a great race placing 17th in 1.12.59 while Helena Sim clocked 1.15.23 finishing 25th. Morna Fleming reached the finish in a new PB of 1.18.03 (36th and 2nd F55), Lesley Halstead removed over ten minutes from her previous best ten miler clocking 1.21.32 (55th) and Gillian McCracken was 72nd in 1.24.18. Carnegie’s Club President Val Macaulay recorded a time of 1.30.41 (127th), Catherine Wilson was 136th in 1.31.10 and Fiona Rennie was 157th in 1.32.52.

Sunday 7th March – Lasswade 10 Mile Road Race

The Lasswade 10 Mile Race also took place on Sunday afternoon with a eight Harriers taking part in a field of over 300 runners. Frazer Munro recorded a personal best of 1.08.28 placing 73rd, Ian McKinnell clocked 1.12.32 (106th), Bill Duff was 134th in 1.14.47 and Allan Brannigan was 147th in 1.16.07.  New club member Derek Carswell made his Carnegie debut covering the undulating ten mile course from Rosewell in 1.23.40 (224th). Ken Daniels was one of the leading M70 runners clocking 1.27.59 (264th), John Milton was 291st in 1.32.18 and John McArthur was 311th in 1.36.46.Busy

It was a ridiculous contrast though – one dark Wednesday evening I’m standing in George Square, peering through horizontal rain in search of an overdue Airport bus whilst taking inadequate shelter from a window frame that sent rogue droplets down to pummel my bald coupon. Traffic droned by at snail pace, wipers full tilt, a thousand-plus Christmas lights lost in the square beyond. By the time the bus had arrived to receive the awaiting forest of brollies and cases, blood was already failing to reach my fingers and toes.

And yet so quickly it became Summer again. A 4 hour 30 flight full of pasty fat weegies (with some suspiciously skinny-wans donning asics and nike logos squeezed in between). My dad was happy to babysit me for a week in the sun since I had nae pals to go with. He fed me sports gels and water on race day, and every other day it was beer or house plonk.

The Arrecife Marathon idea came to me during an Autumn Google search for a European Marathon that I could train hard and peak for. The truth is, I never got the full training in, and consequently never peaked. But three weeks of consistent mileage (and no speedwork) got me closer than expected. Problem being, back in mid-Summer I ran the West Highland Way. Correction – raced the West Highland Way, particularly the last 15 miles – and unless your first name is Richie or Pauline and you’re a Cunning Ham or a Walker, doing this probably means your legs will never bend the same way again.

Whenever I tried to increase training since, I ended up ill or injured or both. OK, nothing new about this phenomenon for me or almost anyone. From what I’ve heard/read nearly all runners go through these phases, some runners are built sturdier than others, we all learn our limitations and adapt. My pattern is to peak in Spring, struggle with mediocre form through Summer, finally get a good level of fitness in Autumn, and if I’m lucky, squeeze-out a good marathon in time before catching various viruses and animal-flu from fellow Scotrail commuters during Winter.

Back to that google search – it turned out that a week in the canaries cost less than a weekend in Amsterdam. A week’s Winter break in the sun, now that really did appeal. Some might turn their nose up and say “I’d take the weekend in Amsterdam anyway”. Each to their own. Some might say (some might have said!) that Lanzarote is too hot and sunny for an enjoyable marathon, and if they’re speaking from personal experience (e.g. Edinburgh 2009, London 2007) then in their case they’re probably right. The Lanzarote sun was strong and strength-sapping even at 10am when the race started. It hit 24 degrees Celcius by noon. Maybe freezing rain and innov8-swallowing-swamps is the wimps’ option after all! Or once again its each to their own. While Arrecife can’t compete with Scotland’s promise of numb nuts and frozen-snot-on-the-upper-lip, it makes up for this by partially dehydrating your organs and making your arms and shoulders glow brighter than your Carnegie top.

There are three races going on at the same time. The marathon, which is four laps of an out-and-back waterfront circuit, the half marathon (two laps), and a quarter marathon (I’ll not insult your intelligence with any further brackets). That means a busy start, so watch out for Germans putting their towel down on the start-line.

But then it also means a really sociable race. You are never alone. Perth Road Runners were there, running at different speeds, in different races, and it was great to wave and shout encouragement at each other throughout the race. Front-runner or tail-ender, full marathon or quarter, you’re never far from each-other. My dad stood at the out-n-back near the start so I got to wave 8 times, and receive gels/water on demand. Official hydration stations were also plentiful, with SIS gels and flatish coke available. The course was flat too. Picturesque in places, plenty out-n-back bits where you can get a good idea of who’s running just-ahead and just-behind. All good fun. Its not a PB-hunting course, with sharp momentum-stealing U-turns and sub-tropic sunshine. The only hill on the course occurs on a hump-back bridge at the entrance to a lagoon – this I’m sure will fail to inspire the calves and quads of many a hillbilly. As I say, this marathon is not for everyone. Even the free beer at the end may be lost on some. But for those who like the idea of a chilled-out Winter-sunshine destination – which I promise Lanzarote is (the lager-louts are elsewhere) – then there’s a good chance this marathon will satisfy, provide a unique experience, and set one up for returning home ready to finish the Christmas shopping.

I’ve just got back from Berlin Marathon and totally buzzing with excitement. It was my third marathon but by far the best marathon experience ever!

Finished Berlin Marathon

Whist I was training for London marathon I got an email from my company, Takeda, to say that Takeda were sponsoring the Berlin Marathon and they asked me to join the Takeda Marathon team.  At the time I thought this would be good ideas for two reasons; firstly it would stop me getting fat and lazy after the London Marathon, and secondly it would give me a chance to do another Major Marathon.

When I got to Berlin I was so impressed to find that Takeda were one of the main sponsors of the event along with Addidas.  They had a massive booth at the exhibition offering the athletes free health checks and had a long queue of folks waiting for their sports massage.

Berlin is a fantastic city rich with history, art and architecture and it’s really easy to get around as all public transport run on time! The Berlin Marathon is a bigger event that the other marathon’s I’ve seen because they have a two day event including a mini marathon for the children and an in line skating marathon on Saturday.  In addition they organised a breakfast run for the marathon runners on Saturday morning at the Olympic stadium with a hearty German breakfast to get you really in the mood for the event.

The pre race atmosphere on Saturday was brilliant.  There were plenty of stalls selling the most delicious sausages, fries and grills, salty pretzels, sugar coated dugouts and arrays of German and Czech beer and fruit filled cocktails.  While you were munching on the yummy food you were entertained by the BMX bike and in line skater stunt men, as well as live music in the Tier garden.

There were 60,000 participants from over 200 nations in the Berlin marathon and they had over 1 million spectators.  We met up with the Takeda team on Saturday night for the team dinner and it was impressive to see that colleagues from Japan and US had travelled all the way to Berlin for the marathon.

Takeda Team

On Sunday, the race day, we met up at 7:30 for a team photo shoot in front of the Berlin parliament building.  It is an impressive building and looks into the park and the changing area.  We posed and posed for the Camera for ages. If that was not enough, I had a chance to have a solo shoot with Takeda official photographer!  Eventually managed to peel myself away from the lens and go to the start area!  There were so many participants that it took me 10 minutes to walk to my bag drop area, and took me 20 minutes to pass the start line after the official gunshot!

The Takeda team had given us Takeda sponsored T-shirts and they had asked us to wear them for the photo shoot, but they said that we did not had to wear them for the race.  Once I got there and realised the level of Takeda involvement in the race, I wanted to wear my Takeda T-shirt, it made me feel proud not only because they had made such a huge financial investment, but because they took the trouble to get involved and do something so positive for health and fitness.

Hand bike race

Running along the marathon route at every kilometre sign there was a Takeda logo and from mile 18 onwards they had blocks of green beds at massage stations to help runners get rid of their cramps and aches and get back on their feet again.

The race day was a really hot day, they had forecasted temperature of 25 C but in reality I think it was 27-28 degrees.  I decided that I was going to be sensible and take it easy; I aimed for a steady marathon, rather than killing myself at the first half and struggle in the second half.  I felt much stronger than the previous marathons and even at kilometre 30 I felt I was able to accelerate and overtake folks.  Although it was a hot day, the tall buildings and the tree lined boulevards created plenty of shade and protection from the sun.  The atmosphere and support was great and just enough; not as much as London where you felt that the crowd was on top you and not as sparse as Amsterdam that you felt for half of the race you were running on your own!  Also there were plenty water and fuel stations, as well as non alcoholic beer along the way and plenty of live music and performers to cheer you on.

I finished the race at a time of 4:47:33 which was 2 minutes faster than London and 13 minutes slower than Amsterdam.  I am glad that I took a steady pace because I really enjoyed every mile of that marathon and I would love to go back and do it all over again.  The long distance running has a different feel about it, it’s more to do with finding that comfortable spot where you can go on and on and on! And I think it is changing me as a person to become stronger both physically and mentally.

I am grateful for those of you who supported me with the training for this marathon, and for Takeda for sponsoring my registration, flight and accommodation.  I am also grateful for your donations to my cause, Pipar project.  We raised £600 pounds which is a lot of money in Nepal and will go a long way to support education for children in rural communities.  There are some more photos on my fund raising page http://www.justgiving.com/mehrnazcampbell/

Come and run the Berlin marathon with me next year! It is fab, fast and fan-dabi-dozey!

Mehrnaz